Doors of Time
by Vivian Caidin
Summary: Memories forgotten long ago have a way of breaking free.
1. Prologue

TITLE: Doors of Time

DISCLAIMER: MGM, Showtime, Gekko or Double Secret productions owns Stargate SGI and all of its entities. Davis Panzer/Gregory Widen owns Highlander. Other crossovers to come.

PAIRING: None, attraction is mentioned.

RATING: T and R for language, violence and content.

SPOILERS: Highlander is set after the series. Stargate is set at the beginning of the Seventh Season somewhere before "Fragile Balance".

Summary: Memories forgotten long ago have a way of breaking free.

Prologue

…Many Moons Later…

Dr. Daniel Jackson spent several days trying to remember what had happened in the cave with the sea creature, Nem. All he could recall were images of the desert sands and a pyramid. He told himself that those were memories of Abydos that the creature had him recall and he had himself firmly convinced.

It had been nearly eight years since he thought of anything having to do with that creature and that underwater cave. Many things had happened from then 'til now. 'So what made me think of it now?' he wondered to himself as he looked around the perimeter of the clearing they stood in early that morning. Daniel looked at his fellow teammates as he took in the dense jungle beyond the area of the 'gate.

"Come on, Daniel," Colonel Jack O'Neill said as Teal'c and Major Samantha Carter headed toward a cut path that SG6 had made into the overgrowth during their stay on this planet. "Let's go find your rocks," the Colonel said as he waved his hand in that direction.

"It's a ziggurat, Jack," Daniel said as he rolled his eyes, adjusted his glasses and filed in behind Sam as Jack took the rear.

Looking up through the trees, Daniel noticed the twin suns as they gleamed down on them. A large planet loomed over the atmosphere and if he concentrated, Daniel could feel the pull of its great mass. He could also see a few satellites. This "planet" and the others revolved around the large planet that the other SG team had affectionately dubbed Large Marge.

"How long did Colonel Sumner say it would take to get to the ziggurat?" Sam asked as she turned to look at her other teammates.

"Marshall said it took about an hour to reach the rocks," Jack said with a smirk.

Daniel rolled his eyes ignoring the comment as he continued to follow the others through the dense jungle.

An hour later the four team members of SG1 reached the vine covered ziggurat.

"How will we get inside the thing?" Jack asked as he looked along one side and back down the other.

"Well, we have to pace the perimeter," Daniel said with a frown as he realized he was taking on more and more military lingo. He shook his head as he continued along the stone side, "There should be a face carved in stone, the mouth will be the opening."

"Carter, you go with Daniel," Jack said as he scanned the area, "Teal'c and I will head to the right. Give us a holler if you find it first."

"Yes, sir," Sam said as she trotted over to Daniel. "So what do you think is inside?" she asked as she followed him.

Daniel shrugged as one of his rough hands trailed along the side of the rocky surface of the large stone bricks.

"Do you think it might have anything to do with the Lost City?" she asked as she watched her friend.

"I don't know, Sam," Daniel said with a slight smirk, amusement played in his blue eyes as he looked over at her.

After walking along side the pyramid like structure, the pair finally turned the corner of the ziggurat and they gazed at the face carved in the surface.

Daniel grabbed the camcorder hanging off the strap on his backpack; he began to take a video recording to file into the computer when he got back to the base. "Oh, wow, Sam!" he sounded so excited, "This is amazing! This is the first time humans are actually able to see temples of Mayan or Aztec construction without destruction from time and elements clouding the view."

Sam chuckled as she radioed their position to the others and followed him to the entrance of the ziggurat. "It's pretty impressive," she responded as she looked at the stone face bulging out from the surface of the structure. She watched Daniel as he strode to the front of the entrance, she noticed him sag in disappointment.

She quickly headed over to him, "What's wrong, Daniel?"

Daniel looked over at her as he spoke into the hand held recorder, "There's a stone locked into place that blocks the entrance, there has to be a lever or something that will open it from the outside…" he pressed pause on the digital recorder when Sam reached his side.

"The stone is in the way," Daniel said as he examined the face.

"Any chance of blasting the stone away with dynamite?" Sam asked with a slight teasing light to her blue eyes.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

… The Yawning Portal …

Daniel looked at her in shock, blue eyes nearly angry until he caught her expression. "Shut up, Sam," he said with a smile as he moved to examine the surface.

"So, what are you looking for?" she asked as she helped search, for what, she did not know.

"I'm looking for a lever," he said as he videotaped the large face then let the recorder fall to hang from its strap. With an observant eye, Daniel noticed one of the ears was lower than the other, he moved to the side to examine the ear and spoke into his tape recorder, then pressed pause. "Sam, this is an amazing find," he said as he touched the ear. "No one has been here since the natives moved to greener pastures," he sounded in awe as he pushed the ear back into position.

He stood back and pulled Sam with him as they heard a click. Then, they heard a second and a third click. As the clicks continued, the stone lifted into a recessed pocket of the wall. Once that happened, the clicking noises stopped.

"Oh, Sam, this is truly awesome," Daniel said as he dropped her arm and moved forward. He grabbed his camcorder once more and filmed the interior as the dust settled.

Daniel entered through the front of the ziggurat, video recorder in one hand, digital recorder in the other. He began his rudimentary exploration.

"Shouldn't we wait for the Colonel and Teal'c?" Sam asked as she cautiously watched Daniel from the entrance.

"It should be relatively safe," Daniel said with a shrug as he turned to look at Sam's darkened silhouette with sunlight as a backdrop. 'Wow,' he thought to himself as he could imagine the curves she had when she wore street clothes. He shook his head and buried his attraction to her as he turned away from the beautiful sight.

Sam sighed heavily as she watched Daniel, giddy as a school boy, exploring the interior of the ziggurat.

"How long is it going to take you guys?" Sam asked as she radioed the others.

"I'd say we're about 2 clicks from our original position," Jack's voice called over the radio.

'How much trouble can he get into before they get here?' Sam wondered to herself as she shrugged and began to set up an area for their camp. She knew they had twenty four hours to explore and get back to base.

As Daniel continued to explore and Sam continued to set up camp, suddenly, she heard crumbling and crashing sounds coming from the ziggurat.

"What the hell" she exclaimed as she turned her head and noticed sand and silt explode out of the mouth. Dropping everything, Sam spoke into her radio, "Colonel, Teal'c, get here double time, something's up with Daniel," she said as she rushed to the entrance.

As the dust settled, she looked inside with a flashlight; there was no sign of Daniel. She entered and noticed another door toward the back of the foyer. She moved to that door and noticed a long, thin corridor. She moved through the hall and at the end of it there was another open door. Looking inside, again there was no sign of Daniel.

Sighing heavily as her shoulders slumped Sam walked into the room and found several stone covered doors except for one in the far corner. She moved to it cautiously and looked through the door as she held onto the threshold.

"I've jinxed him," she whispered as she noticed the pitfall in the floor. Crawling on her belly she moved forward and looked over the lip of the crumbling ground into the darkened pit. "Daniel?" she called.

There was no response.

Her flashlight shined down into the pit, to her, it looked like a fifteen foot drop. Something most people could survive, but if someone was not expecting this to happen, it might have caused some injury.

She saw him sprawled on the ground covered in dust, pebbles and small rocks. Daniel's eyes were not open and he lay still. It even looked like he was not breathing, but at this distance she could not tell.

She radioed back to the others as she headed out of the ziggurat to wait on them.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

...Offworld Tragedy...

For a long time, Dr. Daniel Jackson had problems with his memory. He was found by Nicholas Ballard floating face down in the Seine River in Paris France, Nick had said Daniel was his grandson. But for some reason, Daniel did not remember anything before being found. After being told that his parents had died when he was four by an exhibit falling on them, Daniel had recreated that moment in his head thousands of times as he tried to remember the event. Obviously, he knew 23 languages, obviously he knew about anthropology and knew about archaeology, but other than that he knew nothing of his life prior to his drowning. What happened that he had ended up face down in the Seine River seventeen years ago? He always wondered to himself.

SG1 had been off world for an hour and a half and were scheduled to return to base the next day.

Daniel was inside the ziggurat video taping the South American hieroglyphs to translate when they got back to the SGC. However, he did not notice the knot on the floor that the heel of his combat boot came into contact with.

Suddenly, a rumbling sound was heard throughout the structure. The stone floor Daniel stood on began to crack and crumbled.

The linguist fell fifteen feet, hit his head on the stone floor and was knocked unconscious.

…Rescue Op…

Major Carter heard the rumbling, investigated and called the others. Then, she waited until they reached her position.

Their heads turned towards the ziggurat. They noticed that the dust had finally settled. All three headed into the temple and made their way to Daniel's position.

Jack and Teal'c held a rope while Sam shimmied down it with a penlight in her mouth. Worry was etched in her face as she thought of Daniel dead in this darkness.

As she reached the bottom, she began to scan the area with the small light. Then she checked over her friend. "He's out cold but breathing, sir," she yelled up to her commanding officer. "I'm going to check him for injuries before I move him."

"Be quick about it, Carter," Jack yelled down, concerned for his friend.

Sam checked Daniel over for any wounds. She ran her hand over the back of his head and came away with wetness. She shined the light on her hand and found that it was red with his blood.

"He's hurt badly, Colonel," Sam yelled as she inspected the back of his head for any wounds. She was surprised when she did not find one, "I don't see a wound though, it could be a small puncture, but I don't see anything that might have caused one."

"Let's bring him up to the surface, Carter, and we can examine him better up here in the light," Jack yelled back down to her.

Sam jury rigged a way to support Daniel's neck. Then she pulled him to lie directly under the hole in the ceiling.

Jack lowered a silver thermal blanket with climbing hooks pierced through the tough material and hooked onto the rope in a makeshift travois.

Sam heaved Daniel onto the travois and clipped the hooks together onto a loop she made in the rope. "Okay, you can hoist him up now," she yelled up to them.

Jack and Teal'c carefully pulled Daniel up to the surface then lowered the rope to help Sam.

Once Sam was on the surface, Teal'c lifted Daniel as if he were a babe, carried him out of the ziggurat and put him down on the ground near their campsite.

"Okay, campers, here's the plan," the Colonel cracked his knuckles and stretched before he issued orders. "Teal'c, run ahead to the 'gate, dial earth and let Hammond know what happened to Daniel. Let him know that we'll stay here 'til he regains consciousness, then head back to the 'gate as soon as he's able. Then come on back."

Teal'c gave a slight bow, grabbed up his staff weapon and hustled towards the Stargate at a fast clip.

Jack and Sam worked together to situate Daniel in one of the tents at the campsite.

Teal'c made his jaunt to the 'gate in record time, sent his report to General Hammond and rushed back to O'Neill and Major Carter to assist watching over Daniel Jackson.

The three conscious members of SG1 set up watch at one hour intervals to keep an eye on their friend in hopes he would wake up shortly.

Sam took the first watch, during which time Daniel did not awaken.

Teal'c took the second watch, and nothing happened.

During Jack's watch, near the end of his hour he stood outside of the tent watching the spectacular view of the large gas planet on the horizon as dawn brought one of the suns to the horizon line.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

…Like a Rubber Band… Snap…

'Where the hell am I?' Daniel thought to himself as he snapped awake instantly, but made no indication that he was actually conscious. 'What the hell is going on?' he wondered to himself as he opened his eyes to slits to look around. When he realized no one was there, bright hazel green eyes opened as he looked around at the interior of the tent. He remained calm as he felt around on his person for a weapon and came upon a pistol, a strange hand held device of unknown origin and a folding knife in a slanted pocket of his jacket. He abandoned the strange device to the ground and took the pistol in one hand and the knife in the other. He flipped up to his feet into a combat-ready stance, feet wide, nostrils flared as he looked around for any threats.

A tall, thin man dressed in military garb blocked the exit of the tent.

Daniel made a slight, frustrated growl at the back of his throat as he heard others moving around outside. He quietly made his way toward the guard and made the effort to remain as silent as the predator that he could be. He did not know what was going on, but he would get to the bottom of this.

Jack did not know what hit him when he felt the butt of a pistol crash against the back of his head. He fell into unconsciousness almost instantly.

Satisfied that his guard was not getting up for a while, Daniel ran into the woods to hide and plan his retribution on his captors.

Daniel looked up into the sky to gauge the time of day when he noticed a strange sight. His mouth fell open in amazed wonder, and his hazel eyes widened in surprise. He was not on terra firma, that was blatantly obvious by the awe-inspiring sight of a large planet encompassing the horizon line with several moons flanking it.

"What the hell?" he exclaimed.

...Wake up Call...

"Colonel?" Jack heard and was slapped in the face. He grabbed the person's forearm and opened brown eyes to see Sam kneeling over him, concern written on her features.

"I'm awake, Carter," he told her. He brought his other hand to the back of his head, "What the hell hit me?"

"Near as I can tell, Daniel did it," she said wryly, "We have to find him, Sir."

"No, really?" Jack said sarcastically as he was helped to stand.

Sam began to move away from him.

Jack wavered on his feet slightly and Sam moved back to give him support. She helped him to sit on the large fallen tree near their campsite.

He noticed Teal'c searching the clearing for any signs of where Daniel might have gone. "I have found tracks, Major Carter, do we follow?" the Jaffa asked as he walked to their position. "I did not know you had awoken, O'Neill," He gave a slight bow and a half smile to indicate that he was pleased and relieved to see his friend awake.

"That's alright, T, I'm not sure I've woken up either," Jack said sarcastically. He shook his head to get rid of the fog in his brain. 'I can't believe Daniel hit me,' he thought to himself. "Let's proceed with caution, T Buddy," Jack said as he rested a hand on the larger man's shoulder.

Teal'c nodded as he moved to follow Daniel's tracks.

The tracks lead them deeper into the forest and further away from camp. The further they got from camp, the quieter their surroundings became until not a single insect could be heard.

Jack made the hand signal to stop. He pointed to Carter and silently told her to circle the perimeter.

She nodded and disappeared as she blended into the forest.

Jack motioned to Teal'c to step away from him about four feet and they resumed their search pattern.

Unbeknownst to the other members of SG1, Daniel watched them from the canopy above with amusement in his hazel green eyes. He had a clear view of all three of the strangers. 'Why did they bring me here? Where is here?' he thought to himself as he quietly slinked from tree to tree in a slow, easy manner and followed their progress.

"Daniel?" Jack called out; hoping the sound of his voice would draw the anthropologist out of his hiding place. "Come on, Space Monkey, we're ready to go home," suddenly, he noticed a flash of green straight ahead. He made a beeline for that little bit of hope.

The person above them looked towards what the stranger had glimpsed and smirked. 'Hook, line and sinker,' he thought to himself as he shook his head.

As Jack reached the small clearing, he noticed that the flash of green was Daniel's BDU jacket. He stepped forward to grab the jacket. He never noticed the circle of rope when he stepped into its center. As soon as his hand closed over the jacket, the trap was sprung. The rope closed over his ankle and pulled him quickly, violently to hang upside down from a strong tree branch.

Teal'c tried to move forward to catch Jack on his upward swing, but he was not fast enough.

"Major Carter!" Teal'c called as he looked up at Jack from below trying to figure out how to get his friend down from that height.

"Daniel!" Jack called with an aggrieved tone, "this isn't funny. Let me out of this!" Jack yelled as he folded his body in half to get the combat knife out of his boot to cut his ropes.

"I don't think so," a cultured English accent was heard from one side of the clearing.

Teal'c and Jack looked to the sound of the familiar voice in surprise.

Daniel stood with one hand over Sam's mouth and a knife at her throat. "Don't even think about it, luv," he growled into the woman's ear as he felt her try a counter move. He pushed the reverse edge of the knife against her throat so he would not cut her and brought one of his knees to the back of one of hers in case she decided to struggle or counter attack.

At the feeling of the blade, Sam stilled.

"Come on, Danny-boy, we don't have time for this," Jack yelled down from his position above as he straightened out, knife still in hand.

"Drop the blade," Daniel commanded towards the man caught in his trap. "Hey, Bantu, lower that… staff, whatever… you so much as move and her life's blood will spill to the carpet," he said as he looked at the large, tattooed man.

"Daniel Jackson, I do not wish to hurt you," Teal'c said as he lowered his staff weapon but did not release it.

Laughter bubbled up from the man at Sam's back as he shook his head, "I'm not this Daniel Jackson you speak of, though how you know my first name is a mystery." The laughter stopped as he threw the woman toward the large black man who caught her, "I demand to know why you brought me here. Why do I look like I stepped into an episode of MASH? And where the hell am I? Because, gentlemen and lady, we are not on terra firma!" He angrily pointed to the visible gas planet above their heads, "Does that look like we're on earth?" he exclaimed when all three people looked at him as if he had gone nuts.

"Daniel," Jack called from above, "did you hit your head when you fell through the hole in that pyramid?"

"Ziggurat," Teal'c corrected automatically.

"Whatever," Jack said, "Daniel, Carter found blood at the base of your skull. Did you hit your head?"

He eyed the gray haired man suspiciously as he felt at the back of his head. He rubbed at a slightly crusty substance then brought his hand down and noticed crusted, dried blood on it. "Any of you, could have hit me," he yelled as he pointed to the staff weapon Teal'c still held in his hand.

"You're right, but none of us did," Sam said calmly as she held her hands up in supplication. "Will you let us discuss this calmly and rationally with you? We might be able to provide proof that you're with us, and we can show you the evidence."

"And can you get me down!" Colonel O'Neill yelled from where he hung upside down in the tree.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

…The Mind is a Tricky Thing…

Angry hazel green eyes narrowed as he took his time to look at all three to gauge their truthfulness. He did not sense any deception in these strangers. "I will let him down," he intoned, "But first..." he looked at the woman, "Disarm the sidearm, the auto, the knife at your belt and the knife in your boot."

Sam looked at him a long moment before she complied and tossed the weapons his way.

He looked over at the large man, "And you, Bantu, get rid of the… whatever… that is," he indicated the staff weapon, "and your side arm. And that funky thing on the left of your belt."

Teal'c easily gave up the pistol and zat but set his staff weapon on the ground reluctantly, his cheek ticked as he clenched his jaw.

"With the first sign of deception or foul play, I will seek retribution. Of that you can be sure." Daniel said as he walked over to a lowered bough and lifted it into the air. As he lifted it, the counter balance, which was Jack, lowered far enough that Sam and Teal'c were able to grab onto him. Daniel commanded, "Woman, remove his weapons, whatever that is at his belt, the sidearm, the auto, all of his knives, and the spare."

Jack looked at Daniel wide-eyed as he wondered to himself, 'How could he possibly know that I am armed and where if he is not Daniel Jackson?'

"Hold tight, yanks, I'll let him loose," he said as he moved forward cautiously to collect the weapons from the ground, watching the others all the while.

Daniel slung the automatic weapons across his shoulders, shoved one pistol into the waistband in front of his pants and the other in the holster where he had retrieved his side arm earlier. He then confiscated the knives into various pockets in his BDU pants and he looked curiously at the strange devices that he recognized when he had disregarded one just like it earlier, he found a spot for one of them in a strap on his belt and stuffed the other one into the inside of his jacket. Daniel then retrieved Jack's fallen blade and looped it in another strap he was wearing. Then, he rose as he grabbed up the staff with the strange bulbous ends and twirled it once in a move taught to him long ago, then lowered it in a carrying position any warrior comfortable with a javelin would know.

He eyed the black man and the blond woman wearily, suspiciously.

Sam could tell he was still in fight or flight mode, she knew any wrong move would be considered a threat. 'What is going on?' she thought to herself as she looked at him and into his normally blue eyes, 'Why is Daniel acting like he doesn't know us? Why does he have hazel eyes instead of blue?' She gave him a calm, serene expression to hopefully gain some trust as she helped the Colonel. She watched Daniel as he then moved to a knot that she had not noticed on the rope, gave one tug and the rope uncoiled and fell to the forest floor. Then she watched in surprise as Daniel swiftly, expertly coiled the rope in a butterfly coil and slipped it over his shoulders and tied the ends around his waist.

As soon as Jack's bonds were removed, Daniel quickly moved away from them to a far enough distance he considered safe.

Jack turned towards his friend and saw a stranger staring out of hazel eyes, "Oh, for cryin' out loud, Daniel, what are you doing?"

"You have the advantage here, whelp," he said as he eyed the three of them mistrustfully, "I don't know any of you."

"Jack O'Neill, Sam Carter, and Teal'c," Jack said impatiently as he pointed to the other members of his team then pointed to Daniel, "and you're Daniel Jackson."

"Sorry," he said with a smirk, "I don't know a Jackson. I'm Daniel Geiger, a researcher for the Museum of Art and Antiquities in London. The last thing I remember…" suddenly, he gasped as a flashback overtook his mind.

25 March 1984, Paris

The bridge at Mezy-sur-Seine. He was shot once in the chest, once in the back and once in the back of the head, but surprisingly he did not die from those wounds, he remembered drowning. He remembered the small piece of quartz gripped in his hand; it was from the Methuselah Stone. What was Methos going to do with the Methuselah Stone? Was it something to do with Alexa?

...Back to Reality...

He snapped out of his reverie as he noticed the three strangers making slow movements forward. Daniel aimed his pistol and shot at the ground at all three of their feet, so fast they had not seen his hand move.

"I do not wish to hurt any of you, but if you persist, I will be forced into action," he eyed all three suspiciously, "Start talking."

Jack put his hands up in surrender and took a deep breath. "You and I have known each other for almost nine years now. We met when you came onto the Stargate Program. I labeled you a geek when you correctly translated the cover stones within five minutes of looking at them. You weaseled your way onto the first mission and my team. After the uprising and defeat of Ra, you remained on Abydos with your wife Shau're."

The man standing in front of them shook his head, "For the last three years I worked as a researcher for the Museum of Art and Antiquities in London, England. I was on assignment at La Louvre in Paris, France. Before that, I worked for the Library at Cambridge as an Historian. Before that, I was in school at Manchester and Oxford. I don't know anything about a stargate program. Much less what a stargate is. And I'm definitely not married," that last was said with a little half smile.

"You spent a year on Abydos," Sam said, "When the Goa'uld came to Earth that's when we went to get you."

"Abydos is a ghost town in Egypt, I don't know what the hell you're talking about but I haven't been to Egypt in a very, very long time. Don't have plans to go back any time soon, thank you very much," this was said in disgust. Daniel hated sand and hot weather.

"Abydos is a planet just past and slightly to the right of your constellation Orion, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c told the other man.

"I think you yanks have me confused with someone else," he sighed heavily as he shook his head and passed a hand across his face in a decidedly non-Daniel move and removed the unneeded glasses and shoved them into a pocket of the military jacket he wore, his vision cleared with the absence of the blurry object. He did not want to believe that he had lost years of his life, but these strangers made it sound as though he had.

"You are Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said with a rare expression of concern clouding his features. "We have fought together in battle many times. You are a great warrior of the Tau'ri."

Daniel looked at the large black man and determined he was telling the truth by looking at his body language. "Then why don't I remember it?" he yelled at them.

"When you fell?" Sam exclaimed excitedly, "Blunt trauma!" Their attentions turned to her, "It must have affected your memory. You must have some form of amnesia."

'Again?' Jack was confused as he looked between Sam and Daniel, "But how would he think he's someone else?" Jack wondered aloud as he looked at his friend discerningly. "Come with us, let's show you the site of the accident," he gave the other man the same 'come with me' gesture that Yasuf had given them the first time they had met him.

Daniel looked at the gray haired man for a long moment since the gesture had seemed so familiar. "Oh, you first, most certainly," Daniel said as he pointed the gun in that direction.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

...What's My Name again?...

Daniel narrowed his eyes at the gray haired stranger. That gesture had seemed familiar, but he did not know how. He shook the tip of the tongue sensation off as he followed them toward the campsite. Eyes, ears and senses used to the maximum as he watched the others for any sign of threat.

"Colonel, do you know what's going on with Daniel?" Carter asked in an aside to her Commanding Officer as they began their trek back through the woods to base camp.

"Not a clue, Carter, unless he really is this Daniel Geiger he declares himself to be," Jack said as he tried to figure out what was going on with his friend.

"Perhaps if we let him hear recordings of his own voice and let him see videos of himself he will understand that we are not trying to trick him," Teal'c suggested as he walked alongside his friends.

"That's a good idea, T, do you see a TV and VCR out here in the middle of nowhere?" Jack said sarcastically as he waved his hands to indicate the forest. Even though he hid it well, Sam and Teal'c knew that he was as worried about Daniel as they were.

"Jack that's a good idea about the recorder, but Daniel carries it with him. We'll have to get him to turn it on." Sam told the others, "That's if it isn't broken from the fall."

A short time later, and they were back at the campsite near the ziggurat.

Daniel looked around and realized nothing was familiar to him. "This is a waste of time," he said impatiently. He removed the rope and threw it into the tent he had woken up in. He then threw his gun, the automatic weapons, the staff thing, the strange devices and the assortment of knives into the tent. He also removed the drab green military jacket he wore, bunched it up and threw it into the tent in frustration; it revealed that he wore a black t-shirt underneath. He retained the better of the pistols and the large knife he had confiscated from the gray haired man.

Checking his inner left wrist, he noticed the Watcher's tattoo still colored his skin like a brand. He rubbed frantically at the greenish blue tinted skin as though that would remove the discoloration. Finally, he turned back to the three strangers to find them watching him in curiosity.

"Listen," Sam said, "you have a digital recorder that you carry with you all the time. Play back the recordings if you don't believe us."

It sounded sensible enough to him so he dug through his pockets. He found the strange, small device that fit in the palm of his hand with writing that read, "Olympus, digital voice recorder, 8 gigs." Daniel thought that this was what she was talking about, because it had similar symbols to a tape recorder without the words. He flicked the on off switch and pressed rewind. The hand held thing-a-ma-jig beeped twice and he looked at it in confusion.

Sam's eyes widened as she looked at Daniel as he stared at the thing like he had never seen it before. "Um," she said and noticed the intense focus that he gave her, "you can press play."

Jack looked at her in question.

She shrugged in their usual form of silent communication that meant, 'I don't know what the hell is going on.'

Daniel pressed play and heard his own voice in a comfortable American accent as he said…

"May 15, 2003… P3X-576… We exited the 'gate at 0750 hrs earth time."

'Trees,' Jack's voice was heard in the background, 'why do they always have to have trees?'

Daniel chuckled lightly on the recording, "Like that's some sort of precursor to a mission SNAFU."

Everyone noticed a hint of humor in the American sounding voice, but it was obviously Daniel's voice.

"The MALP picked up a pyramid like structure about an hour's walk from the 'gate, so we're headed there now…"

Jack was heard suggesting that they take a look at the rock.

"It's a ziggurat," another hint of humor in the voice.

"0875 hrs, it was a long walk, got our daily exercise," more humor. More seriously, "Looks to be early Olmec design, you can tell by the giant face at the entrance to the temple, the mouth is the door… no writings inside which is indicative of Goa'uld occupied worlds, otherwise there would be picture writing similar to hieroglyphs and basic math… I'm thinking they decimated the stores of Naquadah, Trinium and whatever other natural resources this planet may have had then abandoned it. The MALP's original scans verified that there are no signs of life on this planet, so they may have had an uprising and the Goa'uld wiped them out, or Thor's people pulled them off world and moved them elsewhere to protect them. The Nox could have had a hand in their rescue that sounds like their MO as well."

The man holding the recorder stared at it in rapt attention. It was his voice in an American accent. He shook his head as he listened.

"Or the Ancients perhaps if they were still around…"

"What is this trickery?" he asked aloud as he stopped the recording and looked at the three people standing about two meters away from him.

"Its not trickery, Daniel," Jack said exasperated, "That's your voice from yesterday."

"Today's date," Daniel ground out through clenched teeth, "is 26 of March of the year 1984."

"Look at your watch, Daniel," Sam said as she showed him her own.

He peered at his watch, the digital read, '06-14-03' and the time read, '1350' in military time. He looked back at the strangers he raised the watch to show them and said, "This can be faked."

"Just turn the tape back on, Daniel," Jack said in exasperation.

He did as requested and they listened…

"My first guess would have been Zipacna, but since he's so low in the pantheon of the Goa'uld System Lords, and dead, I don't think that he gets the gold star. This snakehead could be named after any number of South American deities, perhaps another room, such as the throne room, would have that info… wait a minute… found something."

Everyone heard the distinctive sound of stone sliding on stone, then Daniel's voice once more sounding giddy...

"This is too easy… I've located the throne room… typical gold, what's the deal about the Goa'uld and gold?" they noticed his voice was once again humor-filled, "Goa'uld gold…" he joked and a chuckle was heard. "More of those giant faces in the inner sanctum, okay there is a wall with writing, as I suspected, going to film it for the records and translate it later. The anthros back at the SGC will enjoy figuring out this writing too… Of what I can make out, it is early South American… kind of a blending of all: Olmec, Aztec, Mayan, Zapotec with Goa'uld interspersed… standard, stone calendar… What do I understand of the writing? Sketchy at best… some images of sacrifice… mention of a door of heaven, the Stargate obviously… okay, their Goa'uld was Quetzalcoatl, the name means 'feathered serpent,' how apropos… Sometimes he's depicted as a god, sometimes a king and sometimes a priest, he is also confused with Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, ruler of the Toltecs of Tula. I know what that means; it's likely the Goa'uld infected Quetzalcoatl the ruler of that era. He was patron of ruler-ship... well isn't that special. I'm going to explore more, see what I can find…"

Daniel turned the tape off once more. "What the hell is a gould? And I don't know how to read any pictographs from South America."

"The Goa'uld are false gods who enslave worlds," Teal'c explained, "They are evil and only interested in conquering as much of the galaxy as they are able."

"You may not be able to read pictographs from South America, but you've been able to figure out a few words just by similarities from other, similar words. Like in Egyptian," Samantha told him.

"You're smarter than you look," Jack threw in his sarcastic comment.

Daniel was not impressed with this Jack O'Neill, he reminded Daniel too much of Methos, "You remind me of someone."

"I remind you of myself, Daniel," Jack said exasperated.

"No, that's not it, you remind me of Adam Pierson," he said with an evil smirk.

"Hey, we're concerned about you, Danny boy, not me!" Jack groused in a half-hearted protest. 'Who the hell is Adam Pierson?' he asked himself.

"Please continue the recording, Daniel," Sam said with an annoyed look towards her CO.

Daniel pressed the play button and the tape continued.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

…Memories, Sweetened Thru the Ages Just Like Wine…

"I've found another room…it appears to be what would once have been an air traffic control… room, well its obviously not a tower… there are instrument panels, the symbols are Goa'uld, just tells you what the buttons are for, wait, I'll video tape… I'm guessing this place is similar to the room Sha're showed me back on Abydos, though a little more elaborate as if this was a stationary palace with room for the Mother Ship obviously… Don't know if old Quetzal is still alive. This place seems to have been abandoned for a long time; I would think he's out of commission. Please don't let us find a Sarcophagus. Damn, Jack is rubbing off on me. Note to self: spend some time with Sam and the geeks in acquisitions, get back into the lingo, since my de-ascension I've been spending too much time with Jack."

He turned off the tape once more.

"I didn't have to know that, Daniel," Jack sounded aggravated that Daniel thought he was spending too much time with him. But he would forgive him anything, if Daniel would just come back to himself.

"I de-ascended? What the hell does that mean?"

"You died from radiation poisoning, but Oma helped you to ascend," Sam tried to explain.

Daniel shook his head, which effectively shut her up, "That's impossible." He scoffed.

"You died, Daniel," Jack said, "And you came back a year later."

Angry hazel eyes glared at all three strangers. On their faces and in their body language was something he did not want to identify. They were not lying.

"I cannot die!" He yelled at them in a panicked tone as he sensed they were not lying to him.

"You what?" Jack asked as a feeling of apprehension stole over him.

"I said!" Daniel yelled as he pulled the knife from the strap and grasped the blade with his other hand, "I. Cannot. Die." He pulled his hand violently and lifted it up with the palm facing them. Yes, there was blood, but he rubbed it away with his other hand and SG1 witnessed blue lightning crackle and heal the wound.

Sam, Teal'c and Jack started then stopped as they watched in awed silence as their friend healed the wound he had caused almost automatically.

"What is this, Daniel!" Sam asked with a frown as she cautiously moved over to inspect his hand. Examining the man's hand she noticed that even though it was covered in blood, his skin was unblemished.

…Who Wants to Live Forever?...

Daniel had enough of her inspection, so he stood back and moved away.

The other three members of SG1 eyed him with suspicion. Neither Teal'c nor Sam felt the presence of a symbiot.

Daniel closed his eyed, took a deep breath and took a brief meditative state. He then opened his still hazel green eyes and looked at the other three with a confused expression on his face. "You're Jack," he said to the gray haired man as he pointed.

"Yes, I'm Jack, we've established that already," O'Neill said sarcastically.

"I've just gained some memories," he snapped, "You're a Colonel in the United States Air Force."

Then he turned to the woman, "You're Samantha Carter, you're a Major and have a doctorate in Astrophysics."

Sam's smile was overshadowed by concern as she looked at her friend, "Yes, that's me."

Daniel then turned towards the large black man, "You're Teal'c… Jaffa… ex-Prime to…" he closed his eyes and concentrated on the information, "A… a... apophis."

"That is correct, Daniel Jackson," he said with as much of a smile as his lack of general facial expressions allowed.

"What the hell just happened?" Jack asked Daniel as he tried to move forward but stopped as Daniel stepped back, "Why did you wound yourself? And how did you heal?"

"I should never have done that in front of you," he sounded apologetic. "Most mortals don't know," he said as he looked away from them, up toward the alien sky.

"Search your feelings," Sam said, "you know we'd never betray your trust."

Daniel closed his eyes again and searched within himself. He had a sense that she was telling the truth and nodded. "This body remembers if the mind's not willing," he said and scrubbed a hand over his face then walked slightly away from the group. He closed his eyes once more to seek answers to questions he did not know. He finally turned to them with an odd expression on his face, "I'm an Immortal, and I cannot die." He began his story, "I'd say I was born roughly in 622 Before the Common Era. I was a slave in Babylon and in approx 533 BCE I was set free by Cyrus the Great."

"Daniel!" Sam interrupted, "Daniel, from the Book of Daniel in the Bible."

"Yes, the prophet," he nodded then bowed in a courtly manner.

Jack stood and walked a few steps away from them, "I don't think so."


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

…Memories, Like the Corners of My Mind…

Daniel walked around the campsite, uncharacteristically restless as he paced around in circles. "You wanted an explanation for my behavior," Daniel snapped, "I'm giving you one! You don't want to know what's going on that's fine with me!" The Immortal exclaimed as he folded his arms across his chest and took a ready stance almost like he was ready for battle.

"Go on with your tale!" Jack snapped right back at the other man.

Daniel stalked over to the stubborn mortal, head lowered, his hazel eyes held a predatory light in them. "I don't need to tell you any of this," he snarled as he turned the startled Jack to face him, "The fact that I know I can trust you without even remembering who I, who any of you are, should mean something!" He snarled as he looked the taller man up and down in a very un-Daniel-like way, almost as though he were sizing up an enemy. "Give me the benefit of the damned doubt, will you?" the intense, cold hazel gaze was unsettling as his eyes narrowed on Jack.

"Loose the accent," Jack said as he bristled, "I'm more familiar with a lack of accent on you. It's almost as freaky as talking to the damned Goa'uld."

"Is this better?" the accent was turned off, like a switch, though there were teases of it in there if a person listened closely.

"Slightly," Jack grumbled sarcastically.

The seemingly younger man stalked back to the fallen tree and sat down with none of the practiced grace Daniel normally had.

Sam sat a couple of feet away from him while Teal'c and Jack remained standing.

"I was born on the northern plains in what is now France, the son of a Chieftain of a Celtic tribe. Daniel was not my original name. Eventually, I made my way to Sumer and became a captive and ended up tending the Hanging Gardens in Babylon for Semiramis."

"I thought Daniel was a eunuch," Samantha said thoughtfully as she looked at him.

A pained expression stole over Daniel's face as he looked down at her from where he stood. In a very quiet voice, barely louder than a whisper, though everyone heard him, "One of my serfs pretended he was me, and I switched places with him. His name was Daniel..." he turned away from them as he relived the painful memories. "I'm not a eunuch," he hissed quietly, "but I had to listen to his screams as they forced such a fate upon him." He turned back to the other members of SG1, and they noticed the grief and pain on his face.

Sam's eyes widened as she realized what a nightmare he must have lived through, "I'm sorry, Daniel, I didn't think about what you must have gone through back then."

Daniel closed his eyes and settled back on the log as he glanced sideways at her from the corner of his eye. He gave a deep sigh before he shook his head, "Don't worry about it. It happened too damn long ago," he waved a disregarding hand. Then, he continued, "Later, Nebuchadnezzar conquered the region and became ruler. When writing appeared on the temple wall, no one understood its meaning. I was able to decipher it and relayed the message to the ruler; henceforth I was given every respect and courtesy any court official would have. Until other slaves I had befriended became jealous. They devised a plot to rid the palace of my influence. They told lies about me and suggested the lions' den as punishment for the crimes I supposedly committed. I was thrown to the lions, which was a common death sentence in those days, but for some reason they would not touch me. I think they sensed what I was before even I knew. The next morning, they opened the barrier and I exited, unharmed. If anything, this lifted my status. I became adviser to the ruler. Then Cyrus defeated Nebuchadnezzar and took over. He sensed what I was, taught me how to survive as an Immortal and freed all of the other slaves and I… I've been many things since those days..." he trailed off almost lost in memories. "Until recently, I was Daniel Geiger, though I remember that I was shot in front of witnesses so I cannot resume my old life."

"You have a life," Jack protested harshly, "as Daniel Jackson, just remember, damn you!"

"Just remember quickly so that we can go home soon," Sam said quietly as she rested a supporting hand on his arm as she finally moved closer to him. She no longer feared that he would lash out at her.

"It's starting to come back in drips and drabs," he said, then turned to the others, "I was married, but something bad happened to her?"

"Sha're, she was your wife from Abydos," Jack said and lowered his head in mourned remembrance.

"Sha're was implanted with the symbiot Amonet, mate to Apophis," Teal'c began but was unable to finish the tale.

"You went back to Abydos, on the year to date that she had been taken and found her pregnant with a Harsisus child," Sam explained, "you delivered the baby and helped protect him from his evil parents."

Daniel pressed a fist to the side of his head as he remembered some more, "She also tortured me to acquire the location of the child. I did not tell her where he was. Teal'c killed her with some kind of energy weapon," Daniel looked at the large man with the gold symbol embedded into his forehead.

Teal'c frowned and bowed his head, "If I would not have killed her, she would have killed you."

"Only temporarily," Daniel gave the often used bad pun.

"We did not know that at the time, Daniel Jackson," the Jaffa lifted his head as he looked at Daniel.

"You aren't human?" Daniel said.

"That is correct, Daniel Jackson, I am Jaffa. My race was designed to carry the primta or larval Goa'uld."

"But you no longer carry one of those things."

"No, I now take tritonin to compensate for lack of immune system," he told his friend.

"Let's get back to that recording," Daniel said as he ran a hand through his hair. He turned the tape on and they continued listening as the events unfolded further…

"I think I'm ready to head out… Unfortunately, we're not going to find anything about Ancient technology or the whereabouts of the Lost City here…" the recording was stopped once more.

"What is this Ancients that I speak of?" he asked.

"It is a race of beings that terra-formed Earth millions of years ago," Samantha advised.

Daniel held up a hand to stop her, "The Ancients… some call my race that, but it's not us. Ancients," he let the word role off his tongue, "Not Ancients… Belius."

"Belius?" Jack questioned.

Daniel closed his eyes and pulled the information from his mind, "The Belius were similar to my kind but developed differently. Hardly any other Immortal would know who or what they were unless they're a minimum of I'd say three thousand years old. They're benevolent, pacifists, though they have similar abilities but they're not from Terra Firma, I know that now."

"Similar abilities?" Sam said wonderingly.

"The older an Immortal gets the stronger in Quickening he or she becomes." He explained with an off handed wave of his hand. "Did I get…ostracized... for believing that the Pyramids were built by aliens?"

"Yes!" Jack said with a flippant wave of his hand.

"Damn, if I'd have been me, I'd have known better," he said with a long-suffering sigh.

"What are your 'special abilities'?" Jack asked with a scoff.

Daniel eyed the taller man with that cold, Predator's look once more before he answered, "Besides being long lived?"

They nodded in response. 

"I'm also able to heal from nearly any injury or killing blow, I can sense when others of my kind are in close proximity and can recognize others of my kind, if known to me, just from their quickening. I can diminish my quickening to make others think I'm just a plain mortal, or can cause pain in another Immortal with my quickening. And I have prophetic dreams."

"Prophetic Dreams?" Sam and Jack said simultaneously.

"Yeah, remember... Daniel from the Bible?" he said sarcastically, then continued, "It's more of a curse than a blessing. I wouldn't have had text written about me if I had not been well known for things that happened to me back then." Daniel smirked and shook his head as another memory fell into place, and realization dawned. He looked from the Colonel to the Major with a strange light in his eye. 'Why did I never see it before now?' he thought to himself, 'Because now I'm like a stranger looking for the first time, like a third party observer.'

"What?" Jack had a familiar tone in his voice, that middle ground from aggravated to angry.

Daniel smirked and used the same tone, "Nothing, Jack." He looked at the younger man with an expression of, 'I know something.'

"So where do we go from here?" Sam wondered aloud.

"Back to that infernal recording," Daniel said as he pressed the play button once more.

"So I guess we can just pack it up and get the hell out of Dodge," he chuckled, "I'm channeling Jack again."

"So I guess this means that we can leave?" Daniel asked as he turned the tape off once more and shoved it into a pocket of his pants.

"Yeah, but we're not finished," Jack sounded aggravated.

"Of course not," the Immortal said with a frown. "I still have not remembered everything."

"The truth may be revealed in traveling through the Stargate," Teal'c said in his near monotone voice.

"Sure," Daniel sniped sarcastically, "let's boldly go where no man has gone before. What is this 'stargate' anyway?"

"The Chappa'ai," Teal'c said, "is the ring of the gods. It is what transported us from earth to this planet."

"I've never heard of a stargate or a chappa'ai... but the ring of the gods is in the United Kingdom," Daniel said with a slight smirk.

"Stonehenge?" Sam questioned curiously.

Daniel shrugged, "That's what it was called when it was first built... a friend of mine watched it being built."

"We're getting off topic," Jack said angrily. "You, Daniel, are the one who translated the symbols correctly on the cartouche. You, Daniel, are also the one who figured out that we needed six constellations to calculate the destination and the damned point of origin for the 'gate. You, Daniel, were instrumental in getting this program up and running."

Daniel eyed all three of them for a long time as he weighed his feelings, the memories that were beginning to assimilate and fall into place and their body language. "I'll bite, let's go."

He moved to the tent and disarmed the guns professionally. As he did this, he threw each gun to its rightful owner though he kept a new pistol for himself.

"Hey!" Jack complained as he caught Daniel's weapon and checked it. No ammo, not even one in the chamber. He looked over at Daniel and noticed that he had kept Jack's service pistol.

Daniel ignored him as he pulled the strange devices up from the ground and looked at them. He knew they were some kind of weapon but he still did not remember how to use them. He shoved them in a rucksack that looked like something he might carry and haphazardly tossed it over his shoulders. He retained the staff and carried it like a javelin as he exited the tent.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Jack demanded angrily.

"When..." Daniel replied equally angry, "If... I decide to trust you enough to give your weapons back, I will. Now, why don't you three dismantle camp and I'll 'guard' the perimeter," he sounded sarcastic. He moved away from them to look out into the dense forest and listened to the alien insects as they made noises he was hearing for the first time.

Jack complained to the others as they worked together to pack up for the trek back to the Stargate.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

...The Day Will Dawn of Sanity...

The group eyed the seemingly younger man. They had never seen him act like this before, and SG1 was thrown off their game. Even when he was first brought back from being ascended, Daniel had not acted this flippant.

As Daniel followed them he finally pulled on a long sleeve, drab green shirt and buttoned the buttons, leaving the top two buttons undone. They finally reached a clearing with a circular object gleaming in the late morning sunlight. "What the fuck!" Daniel exclaimed. He had never seen anything like it in his life; and yet, it seemed familiar at the same time. It looked alien in origin. In fact, it finally sunk in that he was on a different world altogether.

The other members of the team turned to him in shock. They had never heard Daniel used any sort of profanity. It was rather shocking.

"That is the Stargate, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c explained calmly as he indicated it with a wave of his arm.

Cautiously, as though he were creeping up on a lion or other strange beast, Dr. Geiger slowly stepped up to the device. He looked at the symbols surrounding the track with a scientist's keen intelligence.

Jack watched carefully for any kind of recognition on the younger looking man's face but did not see any, "Daniel, this is the Stargate. You gave it that name."

"Well, I don't remember," the English accent came heavily to the fore as he snapped nearly viciously. He looked at Jack for a long moment before he gave a deep sigh of frustration, "I'm sorry, I don't remember much. I can tell you what café in Paris I ate brunch in last weekend, I could show you how to disable a bomb and I could tell you where I was in the 12th Century before I could decipher what those symbols mean. They look like constellations."

"They are constellations," Sam said as she moved closer to the DHD. "This," she said as she placed a hand on it, "is the Dial Home Device, each symbol represents a symbol on the Stargate."

"Press them in sequence and they send you somewhere else as long as you have the seventh symbol," Daniel shocked himself as he answered automatically. "I have no idea how I know that," he ran a hand through his already messy hair. He then rubbed a hand over his eyes.

"Where are your glasses?" Jack observed.

"What glasses?" Daniel asked.

"You wear glasses."

"No I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"No I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"Damn it! Jack, for once can't someone else have the last word?" the Immortal stepped back. He moved away from the other three as they stared at him in stunned silence.

"You're remembering some more stuff," Sam said with a triumphant smile.

"Drips and drabs," Daniel shook his head.

"It's not as if it's not the first time you've lost your memory." Jack said as he turned to the major, "Dial us home, Carter."

"Yes, sir," she said as she punched in the dialing sequence.

Jack grabbed Daniel and pulled him far enough away from the 'gate so that he would not be vaporized by the vortex.

"Hey!" the researcher protested as he heard the whooshing noise. He turned his head and noticed the pool of horizontal water in awe. He flashed to seeing this sight for the first time. He moved up to the edge and raised one hand to just barely brush the surface. "It feels almost like a quickening," he observed as he felt the electrical current within the Event Horizon tingling along his arm and down his spine. "The doorway maintains the portal," he observed scientifically.

"Study later," Jack said as he grabbed the other man's shirt, "leave this hell hole, now!" He pulled the other man through as he stepped through the event horizon.

The sensation of nothingness and quickening washed over the Immortal's body as he was flung through the Stargate at high velocity.

As he was reconstituted on the other side, Daniel quickly turned to face the 'gate. He watched as Sam and Teal'c stepped out of the Event Horizon like old pros and the pool of water disengaged.

"Let's go, people, debriefing, Daniel's office, now," Jack said as he stormed, nearly military fashion toward the doors and exited the embarkation room at an extremely fast pace. Since he still held onto Daniel's arm, the Immortal was pulled along in a very uncomfortable manner.

He growled and soldiered on since he did not want to get trampled in the other man's wake. With a frown, he took note that the walls of the place were drab, military gray. Once they reached the office, the doors were flung open and he was practically thrown into the room and stumbling fell into a leather chair.

"Damn, man! Experienced in manhandling?" Daniel said sarcastically.

"Who the hell are you?" Jack demanded at a near yell, "For real. Don't give me shit, just give me facts. And how the Hell did you have amnesia for nine fucking years?"

"Seventeen," Daniel corrected quickly.

"Whatever!"

Daniel gave a great sigh as he looked at the taller man. Somehow, he knew that nothing less than the truth would pacify this man.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

...Challenging the Doors of Time...

Sam and Teal'c entered the room shortly after Jack's outburst and he knew he would have to tell all three of them. "Please sit, this may take a while," Daniel indicated the chairs around the room as he stood and allowed the woman to take his seat.

Teal'c also sat, but the Colonel remained standing.

"As I said before I was Daniel of the Book of Daniel in the Bible."

"Just get to it!" Jack demanded impatiently.

"I am, just be patient," Daniel snapped as he turned away from them and looked at some artifacts on a shelf while he spoke. "I was ever the mediator back then. I would settle disputes between quarrelers, break up fights and so forth. I guess it was part of my calling as Prophet, part and parcel and whatnot. One day, when Cyrus was ruler, there was a fight between a field owner and his workers. They wanted more money than some men who had been hired later in the day. The land owner decided to give all of the workers equal shares in the profits."

"I remember this parable," Samantha quoted with a nod, "the last will be first, the first will be last."

Daniel rolled his eyes as he mocked, "I remember that passage." He gave her a blanket stare, "Do you know how many events such as this occurred?" he inquired of her.

She shook her head.

"They were rather common," he sighed as he turned back to them. "Anyway, this argument got out of hand. One of the workers took his eating knife and threatened the landowner if he would not give more money to those workers who had been there longer then he would kill him. Ever the peacemaker, I tried to intervene. I failed. The disheartened worker stabbed the landowner and myself. The landowner survived while I did not. I died and Cyrus, who knew of my kind and was, in fact, Immortal, took my body and brought it to his chambers. I revived and he explained what I was and how to survive."

Daniel turned away from them once more in obvious pain from his memories. "He sent me on my merry way. My travels eventually led me to an immortal: Madera," the name was said with anguish and pain. "Madera taught me what it meant to love."

"Madera?" Jack echoed curiously.

"Yeah," Daniel said softly as he turned back toward them all traces of emotion gone from his features, he looked much older than the files said he was. "Madera was killed after we spent three hundred years together and I was lucky I survived. I wanted to die," he sounded sincere, as though the wounds were still fresh. "I was 'broken' and 'rebuilt'. I think she would be happy that I made a life here, though I barely remember it. Her death made me look for her killers in the faces of all Immortals I have met since then."

All three were entranced by the sad tale.

Daniel sighed and looked away from them, "I hated myself." He glossed over the more gruesome details of that time. "Not long after her death, I made my way to Holy Ground and became a monk."

"Why? How did you become this way, Daniel?" Samantha asked sympathetically as she put her hand on his shoulder.

Daniel frowned as he looked into Sam's sympathetic face, "I felt guilty for hating myself. I felt guilty for feeling vengeance toward others. I was God's Prophet, I should not have felt this way."

"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said as gently as his monotone would allow, "You and I are not too dissimilar."

Daniel paced around the room then turned to all three of them, a frown deep on his face. "I'm sorry."

"Why?" Jack asked, he did not sound as angry as he had been, but the anger was still there.

"For not remembering earlier," Daniel said as he looked up into Jack's eyes. All pretense was gone from the Immortal's face. Jack could see a similar anguish in Daniel's eyes that he had seen reflected in a mirror.

Daniel continued, "For being unable to tell you from the beginning. It is hard for my kind to trust mortals, but I sense that all four of us were true friends, from what memories I've already begun to assimilate."

Jack nodded.

"When I hid away on sacred ground, guilt and pain were at the forefront of my thoughts. I did not want to associate with anyone. I've tried to stay out of the Game."

"The Game?" Teal'c questioned.

"Others of my kind try to kill one another for our life essences, our Quickenings. I try to stay as far away as the ones in the Game as possible. I keep in touch with other Immortals who are not interested in the Game, most are much older than the game players."

"Speed up to what happened before you found yourself here," Jack said with a frown, he could tell Daniel was feeling pain from talking about such personal things.

Daniel sighed long suffering and complied, "I joined the Society of Watchers off and on every 100 years or so since their beginnings. They watch and record the goings on of Immortals that are in the Game, but never interfere. I did this to stay away from head hunters and keep in touch with friends. Finally, I reinvented myself as Dr. Daniel Geiger. In 1984, I signed on as an Historian of the Watchers, and eventually I was assigned to Amanda. She's another friend, but she likes to travel the gray area. There is this gem called the Methuselah Stone that can make mortals become one of my kind. There were Immortals trying to… obtain… this item. Amanda had one piece. Nathan Stern, my Director, gave me a piece that he had… acquired... somehow and told me to investigate the situation. He reassigned me to research before he and his driver were killed before my eyes at Mezy-sur-Seine in Paris. I remember being shot, once in the chest and once in the back, and..." he clutched the back of his head near the occipital region, "once back here, then the sensation of falling. I must have hit the back of my head because the river is very blurry. I must have drowned, probably more than once. I don't remember anything after that… until Nicholas Ballard pulled me out of the drink..." he trailed off as he began searching himself.

"What are you doing, Daniel?" Jack asked exasperated. The Daniel he knew was in there somewhere, Jack hoped he would come back soon.

"Where is it?" Daniel asked aloud to no one in particular.

"Where's what?" Sam asked.

"The crystal! I had it in my hand," he exclaimed as he began searching the office in earnest.

"I don't remember you ever having a crystal," Jack said as he moved to stop the other man's frantic searching.

Daniel turned to him and frowned, "You don't understand, that crystal is important. It is a sacred artifact. A mystical object with great significance to Immortals."

"What the hell?" Jack exclaimed. "What's so important about some stupid piece of rock?"


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

…A Dream within a Dream…

Daniel looked at Jack as though he had grown two heads.

"What?" Jack snapped.

"That was a trigger," Daniel said, "I'm remembering more… You hated me during that first Abydos mission."

"Hate is a strong word, Daniel," Jack protested with a slight smirk.

"No. You truly hated me," Daniel said as he looked around the room. He noticed a faded, framed picture of a young woman on one of the shelves. He stared at it a long time. "Shau'ri," he whispered the name as he moved closer to the shelf.

The proper sound took Jack slightly since he remembered the man had relaxed the formal, "Your wife."

Daniel laughed, hysterical sounding as he touched the cheek of the woman in the photo. "No," he denied.

"You were married in the way of her people on the first mission to Abydos," Jack told him.

"No, I can't have been married to her," he denied in an odd humor. "She's too young."

"You were married to her, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c confirmed. "She became Amonet and had to be destroyed."

"Amonet…" Daniel trailed off into a Flashback of a dream playing and replaying itself. "Yes, that was the only thing you could have done," he told Teal'c as though from the end of a long tunnel. He moved over and placed a hand on the larger man's shoulder. "Yes, nothing you could have done."

Teal'c bowed his head in acceptance; this was the third time that the younger-seeming man had forgiven him for the death of his wife.

"I don't understand how you can be Daniel Geiger AND Daniel Jackson," Jack said in a growl.

Daniel noticed the computer on a table in front of a wall with a window that looked into a hallway. He moved to the computer and moved the mouse. The password screen popped up. "Uh," he said as he turned to look at the others.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Jack exclaimed, "You should know your own password!"

"Try 'ascension,' Daniel," Sam said calmly.

"Thank you, Major," Daniel said as he typed it in and the code was accepted. He quickly went to the Internet, to a search engine and typed his name: Daniel Geiger. Once he hit the enter key, a list came up of different searches. He scrolled down until he found what, to the others, looked like a police report. It read:

NAME: Geiger, Daniel Harrington  
PLACE OF BIRTH: Manchester, England  
BIRTHDATE: 15 April 1962  
DATE OF DEATH: 23 March 1996  
HAIR: Light Brown  
EYES: Hazel  
HEIGHT: 6'  
BUILD: Average/slender  
CURRENT: Deceased – under inquiry  
LAST LOCATION: Paris, France  
EDUCATION: University of Manchester  
SKILLS: Philosophy doctorate; Captained champion university rugby team; languages: English, French, rudimentary Latin

Nathan Stern and his driver were found dead on the bridge at Mezy-sur-Seine. Daniel Geiger's body was not found. Local authorities at Poissy found the bodies of Stern, his driver Vizcarrondo, and three unknown men shot to death.

Local authorities at Poissy advise that witnesses stated that Geiger was shot twice, once in the chest and once in the back but was alive when he fell into the river. Upon further investigation, it was advised that Geiger had stolen a crystal from a vault in the Western European Regional Library. Geiger had recently been working for the Library in the Research department after having been transferred from the Historical Department. This Department has assigned the top investigators and forensic experts to the case, but many questions remain that may never be answered.

NOTES: Was this an act of retaliation on Geiger's part? Or was his transfer part of some covert operation on Stern's part, and was he somehow culpable in Stern's death and the death of the others?

CASE: Remains open until the body of Geiger has been found.

The picture that had been included was of Daniel with hazel green eyes and longish hair.

"Why are your eyes hazel in this picture?" Sam asked him as she stared at the picture.

"My eyes ARE hazel," Daniel said with firm belief.

"They're blue," Jack said from where he hovered over Daniel's shoulder.

"No, they aren't," Daniel argued as he looked over at the Colonel.

"Yes, they..." Jack stopped as his brown eyes clashed with the bright hazel green eyes in Daniel's face. "Why the hell are your eyes hazel?" he demanded.

Sam pushed Daniel out of the way so she could sit in front of the computer and pulled up the base personnel files…

NAME: Jackson, Daniel  
PLACE OF BIRTH: Cairo, Egypt  
BIRTHDATE: December 15, 1970  
EDUCATION: Columbia University  
Doctorates in Archaeology and Anthropology  
Military Education: Linguistics, Military History

SG1's archaeological expert, responsible for cracking the code that activates the Stargate. A student of languages, mythology and ancient cultures, Jackson's knowledge is key to encounters with alien civilizations and displaced human colonies across the galaxy. Sometimes awkward, sometimes socially inept, he is driven, intelligent, and an invaluable member of the Stargate program…

"Blah, blah," Daniel said as he read through the document until he came to a picture of himself in military garb. He frowned as he looked at the photograph. The stranger with his face in the picture DID have blue eyes.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

…Friends will be Friends…

SG1 had convinced Daniel to take a physical so the four headed over to the infirmary.

Once Daniel hopped up onto the examination table, Frasier looked into his eyes. "When did you get color contacts, Daniel?" she asked curiously as she examined the back of his neck.

Daniel opened his mouth to lie but was cut off by Jack's voice.

"He bought 'em weeks ago but has never worn them til now," Jack said.

Janet and Daniel looked over at him.

Jack's body language told Daniel to go with it.

When she turned back to check his mouth then the front of his throat, Daniel replied, "They itch a little when I first put them in, but otherwise I don't feel them. As she asked him a series of standard questions, Daniel got the sense of déjà vu, like he had done this many times before.

"Doc," Jack said once more, "Can you do blood work on Daniel, he's been complaining that he hasn't been feelin' good."

"Jack, I'm sure Janet would love to take out her big needles," Daniel said sarcastically with a roll of his eyes.

Offended, Janet pricked him a lot harder than she normally would have.

Daniel winced at the slight pain and frowned at Jack who smirked at him from behind Janet's back. The Colonel was being examined by one of Frasier's worker bees on another examination table across from his bed.

Janet drew two vials of blood from Daniel's arm, placed a gauze pad over and withdrew the needle. She never noticed the small lightning bolts over his skin as the small hurt quickly healed.

Daniel kept his arm straight and pretended he was pained. "Jack?" Daniel questioned as he looked wide eyed at the colonel.

"Not here, Space Monkey," Jack said as he hopped off of the table and walked over to Daniel. The Immortal got up much slower. "We have that briefing with Hammond that we missed earlier," Jack said as Sam and Teal'c moved closer to them.

Once they were clear, SG1 left the infirmary and headed down the hall.

Not too far from the infirmary, Jack ushered the others into a storage room. He closed and locked the door then turned to the others who were looking at him as though he had grown a second head.

"If you make me regret this I will make Ba'al's torture sessions look like a cake walk," Jack said as he pointed a finger at Daniel.

Daniel got a faraway look in his eyes as Jack triggered a memory…

…Flashback…

"You do know that Ba'al is going to keep torturing you and reviving you over and over with the sarcophagus," Daniel said calmly.

"Yes, I know," Jack said sarcastically. He was reclining on what appeared to be an uncomfortable stone bench. His arms were up and covered his eyes.

"You also know that each time he uses that thing it steals a little bit more of your soul."

Jack's arms came down and he glared at the apparition of his friend, "Of course, I know. Help me get out of here..."

"I can't do that… but I can help you become like me," Daniel said as he sighed softly.

"You mean ascend?" Jack inquired with a frown.

"All you have to do is release your earthly burdens," he said with a benevolent smile.

"Release my…" Jack stopped as he frowned at Daniel, "I don't wanna ascend, just make it so I don't wake up next time."

Daniel shook his head, "I'm sorry. I'm unable to interfere."

Jack scowled at his friend, "If you can't interfere…" they saw Ba'al's Jaffa at the door of the cell, "…then get me the hell outa here!"

Daniel frowned as he watched the Jaffa pull a struggling Jack out of the cell.

…Back to Reality…

'I really died!' he thought to himself in shock. 'Did I subconsciously suppress my quickening and diminish it so much that it caused me to DIE?' he asked himself. Someone shaking him on the shoulder broke Daniel out of his memories and contemplation.

"Did you hear what I said?" Jack asked.

"Huh?" Daniel said as he focused on the taller man.

"I said you're a part of this team," Jack sounded aggravated but he rehashed what he had just said. "Just like our buddy T here, I don't want the NID to poke, prod and dissect you to figure out how you work. We don't tell anyone about quicklings, Immortals or anything else that we discussed Off World or in your office. If something comes up in your blood work we'll go from there. If you make me regret this I will make you regret it for the rest of your life and I'll find a way to haunt you in the afterlife. You got that, Daniel?"

"Why, Jack?" Daniel asked as he frowned up at the taller man.

"I've known you nine years, Daniel," Jack said as he eyed the other man critically. "Nine years and I've never regretted known' you. If you and I had no history, I probably wouldn't be doin' this. Are you guys okay with this?" he turned to Sam and Teal'c.

"Yes, sir," Sam said as she turned to Daniel with a small smile.

"Indeed," Teal'c said as he nodded at Daniel.

Daniel looked at the others in wonder. 'Who are these great people that I've known for nine years?' he asked himself as he followed them to the conference room for the debriefing with General Hammond.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 …Takin' Care of Business…

SG1, flag team of Star Gate Command, entered the briefing room and sat in their usual chairs. Although, Daniel was confused as he automatically sat down next to the blonde major and the large man sat next to him on his other side. 

Shortly, General George Hammond entered the room.

Daniel noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that O'Neill and Carter sat up straighter in their chairs.

"Good afternoon, SG1," Hammond said around a Texas accent as he sat down in the chair at the head of the table.

"General," Jack was echoed by Sam.

Out of the corner of his left eye, Daniel noticed Teal'c give a small smile and a respectful nod of his head.

"So Dr. Jackson," Hammond said as he looked at the archaeologist, "Was your survey successful?"

Daniel looked at Hammond and, with the practiced ease of an actor, lied, "The Goa'uld Quetzalcoatl had control of the area. P3X-576 was probably a mining planet. At one point, it was rich in natural resources: naquada, trinium and other minerals not found here currently. And, Quetzalcoatl enslaved the natives of South America: Mayans, Aztecs, Olmecs, Toltecs, etc. But, one of our allies probably saved the people and transplanted them elsewhere."

The other members of SG1 looked at him, impressed. He looked at all of them and shrugged before he looked back at the General.

"The one chamber that I found with writing was a hidden room… it was similar to the anteroom on Abydos… and I didn't recognize the writing."

"Thank you, Dr. Jackson."

"Um, General, I think the guys in anthro would have a better time of translating the text than I would. I never really studied ancient South America."

"I understand, Doctor," Hammond said as he looked at Daniel before he turned to the others. "Major, do you have anything to add?"

"Yes, sir," Sam said as she sat up even straighter. "I took some soil and water samples and preliminary analysis indicates that Daniel is correct. It has been a while since P3X-576 has been mined. There are minimal traces of any minerals in the samples, and there is evidence of stripping."

"Thank you, Major," General Hammond turned to Jack, "Your opinion Colonel?"

"The likelihood of the Goa'uld going back to that planet is nominal, General," Jack gave his own assessment, "Quetzawaddle is long gone and it seems that he's not coming back."

"Quetzalcoatl," Daniel corrected quietly, on instinct.

"What?" Jack said as everyone turned their heads to Daniel.

"Ke. Tsal. Ko. Wa. Tl," Daniel enunciated as though he were talking to a child. The impatient, un-Daniel-like side took that moment to show through.

"Yeah," O'Neill said with a frown, "That's what I said."

Daniel rolled his eyes and shook his head in exasperation.

"Gentlemen!" Hammond said in an authoritative tone.

"Sorry, General," Jack said with a frown thrown at the Immortal. "That's about all there is to say about P3X-576."

"What about sending anyone back to the planet?" Hammond enquired.

"That might not be a good idea," Daniel said with a frown.

"Daniel!" Sam said as she looked at him in silent communication as though to say, 'Are you crazy?'

He smirked at her before he turned back to Hammond, "Well, it would be dangerous to send a team out there as it is. There was a cave in, and I did fall. Without real support, the ziggurat is collapsing. Structural integrity is compromised; I wouldn't want anyone else to get hurt."

"I'll take that under advisement, Doctor," Hammond said with a frown as he looked at Daniel once more. Something was different about the young man; he was not sure what it was.

"Is there anything else?" the General asked.

SG1 looked at one another in that silent communication that they had gained from working for eight years together. Then they looked back at Hammond as one.

"No," Daniel said with a small shake of his head.

"Nothing," Teal'c said stoically.

"I don't think there's anything else to add, sir," Sam said.

"Not that I know of, General," Jack agreed.

By their actions and their words, George Hammond knew that SG1 was hiding something. He did not know what, but he had known them long enough to be able to tell.

"Are you sure?" the General hedged.

"Yes," SG1 answered as one.

"Then, you're dismissed," he said as he stood from his chair.

"Thank you sir," Sam said as she, Jack and Teal'c rose from their seats. Daniel remained seated.

The others of SG1 looked at him.

Shrugging, Daniel lazily rose from his seat.

The four filed out of the room, and Hammond sat down in deep thought.

'What is going on with them?' he wondered silently to himself. 'Especially Daniel and the other three know exactly what it is. If something was wrong, they would tell me.' He knew his assessment was true. He figured that the truth would be a need to know for him at this point.


	14. Epilogue

Epilogue …Getting Back to the Heart of the Matter…

SG1 filed out of the briefing room and followed Major Carter to her lab.

Once the door was closed, Jack turned on Daniel, "What the hell was that?"

"What do you mean?" He seamed innocent as he asked.

"You were bordering on insubordinate," Jack sounded shocked.

"And that's different than the way you act most of the time, how?" Daniel asked sarcastically as he slouched down into one of the extra chairs in Sam's lab.

"You remembered something, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c observed.

Daniel shrugged, "I think it'll take a small amount of time for everything to settle."

"Why's that, Daniel?" Sam asked as she sat in her usual chair.

"Because of the Quickenings that I've had in the past," he explained.

"Quickenings…" Jack echoed with a frown.

"Yes, Jack, Quickenings," Daniel's tone dripped sarcasm.

"How's that work?"

The Immortal sighed as he looked at SG1 and scratched the back of his head. "Well, Jack," he began slowly. "Whenever an Immortal takes the Quickening of another Immortal, all the memories and power are absorbed as the essence passes to the recipient. So, in other words, I have jumbles of other Immortal's memories rumbling around in my head."

"That seems…" Sam began, but stopped as realization dawned on her.

"You're a quick one, you are," Daniel said as he smiled at her.

"I try," Sam said in a flirty tone of voice.

Daniel smirked, his hazel eyes sparkling.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Jack said as he looked at Daniel. "So, does that mean that you have to sort through other people's memories as well as your own?"

"Yes, Jack," Daniel said with a smirk, "that is exactly what I'm saying. Even though my own memories and consciousness are dominant, I still have other memories that I have to process and absorb. It's almost like having a fresh Quickening."

"Is that why you're not acting like yourself?" Jack asked.

"Oh, I'm acting like myself," Daniel said with a smile.

"But the sarcasm, the non-protocol, the lack of respect," Jack noted, "How is that acting like yourself?"

Daniel pursed his lips as he eyed all the other members of the team and sighed, "It seems to me that Daniel Jackson was meek and humble… a geek, if you will." Daniel then turned to Jack, "I had amnesia," he spoke as though he were speaking with a small child, "I did not know who I was. Obviously," he said with a roll of his eyes, "I would not act like myself."

Jack was so frustrated he wanted to attack the other man.

"Shut up, Daniel."

Daniel smirked at the gray haired man, "Anyway, it will take a while for me to process everything, and then I may wind up back to normal… or whatever passes as that."

"Do you need anything, Daniel," Sam asked as she tried to be diplomatic.

"I need to be in a safe place, away from here," he said as he eyed the dark cave-like ceiling.

"Well, we do have two weeks of down time," Jack said. "We could order pizzas at your place, and hang out. Ya know, keep an eye on you until you're back to normal. Hopefully it'll only take that long."

"Yeah," Daniel agreed with a snort, "hopefully."

- Author's Note: I know someone who started life with blue eyes. She got amnesia from blunt trauma to the head and it actually turned her eyes green.


End file.
